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Leopold Poetsch (or Pötsch) (18 November 1853 – 16 October 1942) was an Austrian history teacher. He was a school teacher of Adolf Hitler at the Linz high school. He influenced the future leader's later views, specifically German nationalism.

Hitler wrote about Poetsch in Mein Kampf:

In my teacher, Dr. Leopold Poetsch of the high school in Linz, this requirement was fulfilled in a truly ideal manner. An old gentleman, kind but at the same time firm, he was able not only to hold our attention by his dazzling eloquence but to carry us away with him. Even today I think back with genuine emotion on this gray-haired man who, by the fire of his words, sometimes made us forget the present; who as if by magic, transported us into times past and, out of the millennium mists of time, transformed dry historical facts into vivid reality. There we sat, often aflame with enthusiasm sometimes even moved to tears... He used our budding national fanaticism as a means of educating us, frequently appealing to our sense of national honor. This teacher made history my favorite subject. And indeed, though he had no such intention, it was then that I became a young revolutionary.^[1]

While touring Austria after the annexation of 1938, Hitler stopped at Klagenfurt to visit Poetsch. Poetsch revealed that he was a member of the underground Austrian SS which had been outlawed during Austria's independence. During this reunion, Hitler and Poetsch conversed in private for over an hour. Hitler would later confide to his traveling companions that, "You cannot imagine how much I owe to that old man."^[2]

He also took some distance from his former pupil, among other things since considering Hitler had become an enemy of Austria.^[3]

References

^ Hitler, Adolf Mein Kampf. Indialog Publications Pvt. Ltd., 2002. pp. 14-15 ISBN 81-87981-29-6
^ Kuzibek, August: The Young Hitler I knew. Boston, 1955. p. 52
^ Eleonore Kandl: Hitlers Österreichbild. Dissertation Wien 1963, S. 38. Zitiert nach Klösch, S. 40.

Bibliography

Shirer, William L. Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany. Simon & Schuster, 1990. ISBN 0-671-72868-7
Pool, James Hitler and his secret partners: Contributions, Loot and Rewards, 1933–1945. Pocket Books, 1997. ISBN 0-671-76082-3
Hamann, Brigitte Hitler's Vienna: A Dictator's Apprenticeship. Oxford University Press, 1999. ISBN 0-19-514053-2
Hitler, Adolf Mein Kampf. Indialog Publications Pvt. Ltd., 2002. ISBN 81-87981-29-6
Mein Kampf, page 15-18
M. Kerrigan. HITLER: El Hombre detrás del Monstruo. ISBN 978-84-9794-380-2
Kuzibek, August "The Young Hitler I knew." Boton, 1955.

This Austrian biographical article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] Hitler, Adolf Mein Kampf. Indialog Publications Pvt. Ltd., 2002. pp. 14-15 ISBN 81-87981-29-6

[2] Kuzibek, August: The Young Hitler I knew. Boston, 1955. p. 52

[3] Eleonore Kandl: Hitlers Österreichbild. Dissertation Wien 1963, S. 38. Zitiert nach Klösch, S. 40.

[1]

[2]

[3]

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+{{short description|Austrian history teacher (1853 – 1942)}}
-{{multiple issues|
+'''Leopold Poetsch''' (or Pötsch) (18 November 1853 – 16 October 1942) was an [[Austrians|Austria]]n history teacher. He was a school teacher of [[Adolf Hitler]] at the [[Linz]] high school. He influenced the future leader's later views, specifically [[German nationalism]].
-{{no footnotes|date=February 2013}}
-{{Orphan|date=December 2010}}
-}}
+Hitler wrote about Poetsch in  {{lang|de|[[Mein Kampf]]}}:
-'''Leopold Poetsch''' (or Pötsch) (18 November 1853 – 16 October 1942) was an [[Austria]]n history teacher. He was a high school [[teacher]] of [[Adolf Hitler]] and influenced the future leader's later views.
+{{Blockquote| In my teacher, Dr. Leopold Poetsch of the high school in Linz, this requirement was fulfilled in a truly ideal manner. An old gentleman, kind but at the same time firm, he was able not only to hold our attention by his dazzling eloquence but to carry us away with him. Even today I think back with genuine emotion on this gray-haired man who, by the fire of his words, sometimes made us forget the present; who as if by magic, transported us into times past and, out of the millennium mists of time, transformed dry historical facts into vivid reality. There we sat, often aflame with enthusiasm sometimes even moved to tears... He used our budding national fanaticism as a means of educating us, frequently appealing to our sense of national honor.
+This teacher made history my favorite subject. And indeed, though he had no such intention, it was then that I became a young revolutionary.<ref>Hitler, Adolf ''Mein Kampf''. Indialog Publications Pvt. Ltd., 2002. pp. 14-15 {{ISBN|81-87981-29-6}}</ref>}}
+While touring Austria after the [[Anschluss|annexation]] of 1938, Hitler stopped at [[Klagenfurt]] to visit Poetsch. Poetsch revealed that he was a member of the underground [[Austrian SS]] which had been outlawed during Austria's independence. During this reunion, Hitler and Poetsch conversed in private for over an hour. Hitler would later confide to his traveling companions that, "You cannot imagine how much I owe to that old man."<ref>Kuzibek, August: The Young Hitler I knew. Boston, 1955. p. 52</ref>
-Poetsch came from the southern [[Germany|German]] border regions. There, [[politics|political]] struggles between [[Slavs]] and [[ethnic German]]s angered him and turned him into a loud and fiery proponent of the [[German nationalism in Austria|Pan-German movement]]. He began teaching in [[Maribor]], and later moved to [[Linz]] to teach [[history]].
+He also took some distance from his former pupil, among other things since considering Hitler had become an enemy of [[Austria]].<ref>Eleonore Kandl: Hitlers Österreichbild. Dissertation Wien 1963, S. 38. Zitiert nach Klösch, S. 40.</ref>
-Poetsch was Hitler's teacher from first through third grade (1901–04) in [[geography]], and in second and third grade in [[history]]. He also ran the school library. As a special privilege, Hitler was allowed to bring his teacher maps, which put him in particularly close contact with him.
+==References==
-Aside from his service at the school, Poetsch was a much sought after official speaker. He spoke at German national associations but also on the occasion of the emperor's anniversary in 1908. In 1905, he joined the Linz city council as a representative of the German People's party.
+{{Reflist}}
+== Bibliography ==
-Hitler became enamored of Poetsch as a teenager, captivated by the professor's fiery speeches. Poetsch was a fervent pan-German. Poetsch despised the [[Habsburgs]] and forcefully argued that all ethnic Germans should be united by a single [[government]]. Like many Austro-Germans, Poetsch wanted to see the old empire break up and Austria join Germany, to the north.
+*Shirer, William L. ''Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany''. Simon & Schuster, 1990. {{ISBN|0-671-72868-7}}
+*Pool, James ''Hitler and his secret partners: Contributions, Loot and Rewards, 1933–1945''. Pocket Books, 1997. {{ISBN|0-671-76082-3}}
+*Hamann, Brigitte ''Hitler's Vienna: A Dictator's Apprenticeship''. Oxford University Press, 1999. {{ISBN|0-19-514053-2}}
+*Hitler, Adolf ''Mein Kampf''. Indialog Publications Pvt. Ltd., 2002. {{ISBN|81-87981-29-6}}
+*Mein Kampf, page 15-18
+*M. Kerrigan. HITLER: El Hombre detrás del Monstruo. {{ISBN|978-84-9794-380-2}}
+*Kuzibek, August "The Young Hitler I knew." Boton, 1955.
+{{Authority control}}
-He asserted that the [[Aryan]] race was stronger, healthier, and more fit to rule than any other people. Poetsch declared that [[Jew]]s and Slavs were what he termed "[[racism|inferior races]]".
-Hitler hated all his classes except Poetsch's history class.  Hitler was captivated by Poetsch's teachings and began regularly reading a local [[anti-Semitic]] [[newspaper]]. Poetsch captured the imagination of his young students with heroic tales of the ancient Teutons and German victories. In his later years, Hitler spoke of Poetsch as a "great man." As [[dictator]] of [[Germany]], Hitler attempted to unite all [[German language|German]]-speaking people, just as Poetsch's lectures had demanded, and persecuted Slavs, Jews, [[Romani people|Gypsies]], and other minorities, eventually attempting to exterminate them in the "[[Final Solution]]".
-Hitler stated that ''"Poetsch used our budding nationalistic fanaticism as a means of educating us, frequently appealing to us our sense of national honor."'' Under Poetsch, Hitler came to the realization that: ''"Germanism could be safeguarded only by the destruction of Austria, and, furthermore, the national sentiment is in no sense identical with dynastic patriotism; that above all the house of Habsburg was destined to be the misfortune of the German national."''
-Poetsch gave popular slide lectures entitled "Images of German History." In them he strongly emphasized the Germanic era and the time of the early German emperors before the rule of the Habsburgs and proceeded to pinpoint the German national awakening up until the [[Franco-Prussian war]]. The following is a quote from one of his speeches: ''Since the great days of the magnificent German victories of the years 1870–71, we have become increasingly conscious of our German identity and now thumb more ardently through the books of German myth, legends and history.''
-However, during those Hitler's teenage years while he may have been inspired by Leopold Poetsch's class, he was not motivated enough to become involved in politics. His only obsession was to become an artist.
-Though a fervent pan-German, Poetsch was also an Austrian patriot at the same time. Later in life, Poetsch was very annoyed when he discovered that in Mein Kampf he received high praise as a teacher but at the same time was denounced as an enemy of Austria. In reference to Poetsch, Hitler wrote: "''For who could have studied German history under such a teacher without becoming an enemy of the state which, through its ruling house, exerted so disastrous an influence on the destinies of the nation. And who could retain a loyalty to a dynasty that ... betrayed the needs of the German people again and again for shameless private advantage.''"
-In 1936, when some teachers in Linz sent their now-famous pupil photos to remind him of them, and they asked Poetsch to join them, he refused, arguing that he did not agree with Hitler in his defamation of Austria as he had sworn an official oath for Austria.
-==References==
-*Shirer, William L. ''Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany''. Simon & Schuster, 1990. ISBN 0-671-72868-7
-*Pool, James ''Hitler and his secret partners: Contributions, Loot and Rewards, 1933–1945''. Pocket Books, 1997. ISBN 0-671-76082-3
-*Hamann, Brigitte ''Hitler's Vienna: A Dictator's Apprenticeship''. Oxford University Press, 1999. ISBN 0-19-514053-2
-*Hitler, Adolf ''Mein Kampf''. Indialog Publications Pvt. Ltd., 2002. ISBN 81-87981-29-6
-{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. -->
-| NAME              = Poetsch, Leopold
-| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
-| SHORT DESCRIPTION = Austrian history teacher
-| DATE OF BIRTH     = 18 November 1863
-| PLACE OF BIRTH    =
-| DATE OF DEATH     = 16 October 1942
-| PLACE OF DEATH    =
-}}
 {{DEFAULTSORT:Poetsch, Leopold}}
 [[Category:1853 births]]
 [[Category:1942 deaths]]
 [[Category:People from Linz]]
-[[Category:People of Nazi Germany]]
+[[Category:People from Nazi Germany]]
 [[Category:Austrian politicians]]
 [[Category:Adolf Hitler]]
 [[Category:Austrian schoolteachers]]
+[[Category:Educators from Austria-Hungary]]
+{{Austria-bio-stub}}

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